Szczesny positive after Besiktas draw

Although Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Besiktas last night has prompted a flurry of nervous reaction, Wojciech Szczesny is in confident mood ahead of the return leg last week.

Having kept a clean sheet, and almost stolen the game at the end through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the Polish stopper was far from downhearted after the game.

“I thought it was very enjoyable”, he said. “It was a fantastic atmosphere and a very tough game. It was exactly what you would expect from a Champions League fixture.

“It was a good test for us and we came out with a clean sheet which is a positive. We’ll be confident going into the second leg.”

Concerns about Arsenal’s performance are understandable, but Szczesny says the team will do their best to grind it out at the Emirates next Wednesday if that’s what it takes.

“We always want to play better and the only thing we can focus on is getting a result in the second leg. It doesn’t have to be a pretty one but we want to get through and secure Champions League football.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal will today send Mikel Arteta for a scan on the ankle injury he picked up last night. The skipper left the ground in a protective boot and could be set for an extended spell on the sidelines if the results confirm the worst fears.

Positive result poor performance but will take the result all day long. Worried about the Everton game though. We are lacking up front and a vibrant Everton could pose all sorts of problems and not sure we have the form yet to deal with it.
We need a quality striker to truly compete for the title and until we get one or Arsene gets Walcot back and pushes Sanchez into the middle and he takes to the roll then we will struggle

Everyone else is good with his feet mobile and fast. Guroud lacks in those departments so when he does try to play with his teammates all that come off it is misplaced passes, weak passes ! “wtf was that passes” pass to opponent passes! u never see this ofcourse because the rest ofthe 90 minutes hes been running up and down the pitch providing knockons, downs etc and and being all up in your tv or face so you reckon “eh he’s afterall doing a job for the team”

I went to Squawka to see how this opinion measured against the stats. To be honest I thought that they would prove you wrong but it turns out that Giroud’s passing accuracy for the PL over the course of last season averaged out at 69%. Only Szczsney and Sanogo had a worst percentage (for Arsenal) with 65% and 68% respectively. I quite like Giroud and I think he adds something to the team, not least I think he is effective in link up play and works hard to hold the ball up as well as managing to score a fair number of goals for the player that he is, but these stats tend to suggest that his passing range is limited. In terms of how this 69% measures against other forwards in the PL Giroud ranks 87th out of 121 when the passing accuracy is prioritized. Podolski is 7th with 89% accuracy, Aguero 85%, Adebarndoor 83%, Sterling 82%, Remy 81% (same as Walcott), Rooney 80%…Lukaku fairs worst that Giroud on 67%.

Make what you will of these stats though, especially when Bendtner ranks 31st with 81% accuracy…Of course some of these strikers are not used in link up play and aren’t supposed to be good passers of the ball, Giroud is though so it is worrying that he ranks so low. That said, I still think he does a good job for the team and we’re better with him than without…

I think a lot of Giroud’s failed passes come from where he has his back to goal, a defender in his back, and is trying to flick to an oncoming runner. If he has time on the ball and facing forward he doesn’t exactly give the ball away every time. It’s more a case of difficult passes equal a high failure rate, but when they come off (ala chips to Podolski volley) they’re worth it

@bonbon that further emphasizes me point. Arsenal is a team whose game is built on making short passes and moving into space. what happens when you insert a player of completely different strengths into this system?

In summary. the team will not reach its true potential as long as giroud continues leading the line. comprende??

I comprende-d perfectly well in the first place, which you would have been able to see had you understood my previous comment. I say that the stats support your opinion. I just think the calls for his head are ridiculous. He needs support from another striker no doubt and also playing in games and roles that use and best facilitate his strengths, which is a point I made in an earlier comment that you’ll be able to see below.

When you say ‘fingers crossed’ re: Arteta at the end of the article, are you saying ‘fingers crossed he is out for an extended period”? It would be an almighty blessing in disguise if he was. He is a lovely bloke and a decent squad man, but how he has ended up as club captain is quite simply ridiculous. We need a man-mountain in the middle of the park a la Matic at Chelski. If we don’t and we continue to play the likes of Arteta in this role, then the humpings away to the big teams will continue this season as well. Besiktas, could and probably should have scored four – Chelski and Shittty would not miss those chances. We clearly need another centre back, central midfielder and a striker. How we have ended up with Giroud, Sanogo and Joel Campbell as our strike force is farcical – just consider that trio of men to lead the line, compared to strikers we have had in the past. It is embarrassing. Let’s hope Wenger sees whaty is clear to everyone else to see and make some waves in the market before the window shuts. At the moment, he has only signed a small attacking midfielder. Our RB, CB and GK signings have simply replaced those outgoing players. Sanchez has theoretically replaced Theo Walcott – somehow Wenger has convinced the world we have had a great window. In reality, we haven’t actually done anything yet. Eleven days or the mediocrity continues.

Szezney or however you spell has been good hasnt he ? Now the question for Arsene and the board where do they wanna be as a club, if we want to be among the very best across Europe we need a good target man than Giroud.

I am not saying the injury to arteta is a good thing but if its a long one it might prompt wegner to maybe also address the DM role everyone wants an upgrade in? i.e the younger more defensive yaya toure from sporting lisbon 😉

Why do I do it to myself? Why do I keep reading the comments? I was feeling rather positive after last nights game. It was another of those nervous backs to the wall, will we/won’t we concede kind of games. After seeing the pitch and the usual Turkish reaction to the away team I was happy with the result, sets us up nicely for the home leg next Wednesday. Shame Ox couldn’t snatch the victory near the end.

I think we need to be able to handle those types of games like that. Once again not the best performance but coming away with at least a point (as it were). The more of those types of games we prove ourselves in the more I feel confident that this season we won’t get hammered 6-0 away from home again.

On a separate note I think it was someone on SSN HQ (what’s with the stupid rename and change of channels?) who said we make things difficult for ourselves by only finishing 4th in the league and having to go through the qualifiers year after year. That might be true fella but I’d rather be in our position than in Man U’s any day of the week!

Though there may not be any substance to it, I’m curious what other fans think of the rumoured return of Alex Song? He was great physically, competent at a range of passing and fairly robust defensively, when he wasn’t marauding forward leaving our back 4 exposed that is. Can cover CB too.

He had some qualities, but that whole Marauding forward leaving us exposed thing is a biggie. We gave up a lot of goals that way. Personally if we get CB cover I’d rather see Chambers play into that role. If we don’t find someone big, that is.

So your solution is to sign someone else and sell Giroud? Then we can moan about lack of squad depth. Giroud himself has said that he’d like another striker at the club, the problem is not Giroud but rather he is being asked to play roles that don’t suit him. For example, he’s in the top five forwards when you prioritize ‘duels won’ in the stats, meaning he works well as a hold-up player.

I think he is a step up from Gnabry, Ryo, Bendtner, Sanogo – who all played last season. Automatically, he makes us stronger. I have followed his progress since rumours about ‘the unbelievable adventures of Dick Law’.

My verdict was, and is, RVP with pace. I feel he could be devastating on the right – he can do most things Robben does (great player, cheat and dick head). He’s adapted reasonably well to the game in four countries, for one that young. World Cup, UCL and scoring against manure experience. Might need to bulk up or shred out (for that extra half-yard).

Sanogo has always scored goals, however, I don’t yet understand how his development is prioritised over picking a better (currently) player.

He will probably, as we have the most versatile team ever, feature across the front line as his ‘education’ continues. If he were to be sold, I’d expect to get 12-23.5m.

His ability, means he is a key player for Costa Rica. As such, it is only reasonable that he performs for them due to the number of chances that fall to him. So, while I wouldn’t get carried away by a slightly above average WC, it is worth noting that he scores against big teams….at all age groups.

If Arsenal does not bring in a striker and a DM in the next 10 days, this will be our worst season in 10 years
Before u downvote, take a screen shot of this comment and print it, paste it on your wall and later tell yourself Truth hurts said so when it happens!